Clannad -After Story- episode 4

So many gorgeous scenes with Tomoya!

I was originally going to make this a double post, but I couldn’t resist making two separate ones because this episode was too good to have to share its glory with another! I’m not saying the next episode is bad though, I haven’t even seen it yet, but this one ends Youhei’s arc anyway, so it wouldn’t really work to have one episode about the ending of an arc while the other is about the beginning of a new one. So, Mei sets out to get Youhei back onto the soccer team and decides to ask the club directly. Tomoya and Nagisa decided to tag along as well for the support and help. What we find out in the next scene is that the soccer club is really cruel! They started off by insulting Youhei and then moved on to insulting Tomoya, Mei and Nagisa! They continuously mentioned how each of them are utterly useless and how useless people always attract to one another, the reason why Tomoya didn’t just go ahead and beat them up, was because he was trying to restrain himself in front of Mai. Tomoya explained later on a little bit to Mai and Nagisa about why the soccer team hates Youhei so much. We then get enlightened with another dramatic story to be added to the Clannad list and in the background we start hearing the classic Clannad music in the background, which almost makes me want to cry to some extent….

The next day, Tomoya gets pissed off with Youhei for not caring for Mei’s dedication, but even at that, Tomoya still tries to persuade the soccer team to let Youhei on with both Mai and Nagisa. This time, the team tells them that they would consider it if they helped them pick up all the balls that get lost out of field during practice. They agreed with the offer, but evil as these people were they kicked every ball out of field, which led them having to run back and forward for hours. When the practice was finally over, Tomoya and gang went to the captain to propose their request again, but instead they just said that they were never planning on accepting him anyway. Mei started to cry, which is when things really started to get out of hand because the captain then started insulting her even more and this is when Tomoya couldn’t take it anymore, but before any actual damage was done (by Tomoya’s part), Youhei came and started beating them screaming that nobody should make his sister cry. This was such a sincere scene because it replicates when he was a kid and he would fight with all the kids that made his sister cry in the past.

Naturally, Tomoya got in on the fights too! By this point, it’s raining out, which evidently made the scene even more dramatic because rain is the most dramatic thing known in this world, and they are both lying on the ground pretty hurt. Though, the fights didn’t end here and both Tomoya and Youhei finally got a shot at each other. It was one of the best fight scenes I have ever seen (keep in mind, I don’t watch a lot o f action type series), but even if I did, I think everyone can agree that unlike in most fights, the feeling between both of these friends were so clear, which is the reason why I felt it seemed so powerful! Seeing Tomoya in the rain with his hair and clothes all drenched is an automatic win, but seeing Youhei in the same position looking all upset wasn’t that far from being very appealing either. The feel good moment of the episode came after this, which was when both Youhie and Tomoya saw each other at school the next day full of bandages and such and the only way they reacted at the sight of themselves was by laughing. We learn that this was exactly what happened at their first encounter, which brought them to being friends in the first place.

This was an amazing first arc to start the second season off with. It was pretty short, but definitely precise and effective. It definitely showed a new light to Youhei’s character and showed his development since the beginning quite a bit, no matter how much of a fool he still is. This episode also gets some automatic points for its epic battle in the rain! The arc also portrayed all of the key characters emotions outstandingly, which is something that will always amaze because as I watched this episode I couldn’t help but feel something different towards every single character. With a start like this, I can’t wait to see more from all of the characters and there arcs and as long as Tomoya makes his appearance in each one, I will be a happy soul!